MusicSlam, new Park City fest, unable to find its groove

The June event canceled as organizers unable to secure sponsors

The organizer of what was billed as a music festival that would bring up-and coming acts in a variety of genres to Park City this summer has canceled the event, saying he was not able to secure the necessary City Hall permit in time.

MusicSlam in November won the Park City Council approval that was needed for the event. Jody Whitesides, the Park City musician who led the efforts, said in an interview this week the permitting timeline left organizers unable meet deadlines of potential sponsors. He was pursuing primarily national companies as sponsors, including instrument manufacturers and others with ties to the music industry.

He said he canceled the event in late February. He had wanted to secure the City Hall permit by the end of August, Whitesides said. He said he plans to organize a MusicSlam in the summer of 2015.

Jason Glidden, a City Hall project manager in economic development, informed Mayor Jack Thomas and the City Council at a meeting on Thursday. The elected officials did not discuss the decision in any depth.

In an interview earlier in the week, Tommy Youngblood, a project manager in special events for City Hall, said the organizers did not continue to pursue the event through the municipal government process after the City Council approval in November.

The City Council approved a license for MusicSlam to run from June 6 until June 14.

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The event's website this week indicated the event was scheduled from June 10 until June 14, cutting roughly in half the length of MusicSlam from the approval. Whitesides said the shorter length was meant to be attractive to potential sponsors after having missed the deadlines.

"It's just part of the process . . . I'm not blaming anybody," Whitesides said.

Whitesides envisioned an event that could have brought upward of 100 acts to Park City during what is normally a slow stretch of the year in the city. He described a lineup that would include genres like rock 'n' roll, folk, pop, country and electronic dance music. They would have been chosen from at least 2,000 submittals, he anticipated. He said last fall he hoped to book nationally known acts for the opening and closing of MusicSlam. The performances would have primarily been scheduled in nightclubs along Main Street.

MusicSlam was meant to put the performers in front of booking agents and promoters. Whitesides said last fall MusicSlam would also offer classes designed for people in the music industry, stressing topics like licensing, and there would be songwriting and live-performance workshops. He described MusicSlam as a networking event.

" providing an audience to support the development of original music on the stage, and eventually in recorded medium, MusicSlam is committed to its mission to provide its booked artists with not only a large scale venue that will reach thousands of people, but more importantly, provide artists exposure to booking agents and an event with which to network with other likeminded professionals," the event's website says.